All that Glitters is Not Gold – Job Searching in Surfers Paradise

It’s been two weeks since we arrived back in Surfers Paradise. Our top priority in week one was landing an apartment – while sleeping on couches is economical, it doesn’t provide for a great night’s sleep! We started handing out resumes from day one though, knowing it might take a few weeks to land a job. Luckily with internet at our new place it also made applying for jobs a lot easier. Today we are officially at week 2 plus a day and we are both still unemployed. Andrew did get a brief stint as a waiter at a restaurant in Broadbeach, I won’t mention the name to spare them embarrassment, but they seem to be the worst run restaurant ever with a husband and wife on the edge of divorce running the show.

As for me, I have applied to every retail store and restaurant in the area with no luck, as well as numerous temp agencies and other online job postings. I have even gone as far to start applying to commission only sales jobs – selling tickets/promotions on the street. For me this sounds about as much fun as gouging my eyes out. After a while you start to question your worth – how I am not qualified to sell t-shirts? Am I too old, too young, am I over-qualified, under-qualified? Or is it that they just don’t want to hire anyone who is not Australian born? Whatever the case, being out of work this long is starting to take its toll. It’s quite the contrast from Sydney, where being there for the holiday season meant you could have your pick of jobs at any restaurant or store in the city.

It definitely has been a wakeup call – both in terms of perseverance and budgeting. I would recommend to other travelers, that when looking of work outside of peak holiday times, it may take several weeks to land something. Make sure you have enough cash to get you through that time, and you can never start too early. For now, I am trying to keep my head up, and trying to think of this free time as a gift rather than a burden. It’s funny, for most of us when we’re working, we always wish we had more free time to work on our hobbies or just relax, but not working for this long, can turn out to be too much of a good thing. It looks like at that glitters is not gold here on the gold coast of Australia.

1 Response to "All that Glitters is Not Gold – Job Searching in Surfers Paradise"

Yes, I am completely agree with you.I like your positive approach to face the situation. It is very motivate. Also the guidelines you said are too good. All the best for your job search. Continue with same thinking and approach, and I am sure you grab best job opportunity one day.